Mr. Bennett’s visit is the first visit by a foreign leader since the February 24 invasion.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday to discuss the war in Ukraine.
Mr. Bennet “just finished a meeting in the Kremlin with the Russian president,” his spokesman said, adding that the meeting lasted two and a half hours.
Mr. Bennett’s visit is the first visit by a foreign leader since the February 24 invasion. The prime minister flew from Israel early Saturday morning to Moscow, accompanied by Israeli construction minister Zeev Elkin, a Ukrainian by origin, who worked as an interpreter.
Both observe and observe Shabbat but invoke a national security imperative to justify their relocation.
National Security Adviser Eyal Hulata, diplomatic adviser Shimrit Meir and press secretary Matan Sidi also accompanied the prime minister to the Kremlin.
The meeting took place due to the fact that Israel, which is one of the few countries that have good relations with both Russia and Ukraine, has repeatedly asked Kyiv to mediate between the two countries.
If Naftali Bennett proposed last week to Vladimir Putin to arrange a meeting with Vladimir Zelensky, then this option is currently rejected by the Kremlin.
In recent days, the government of the Jewish state has been widely criticized for being too timid towards Moscow.
Israel condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine through its foreign minister, Yair Lapid, and through a vote in the United Nations General Assembly, but Naftali Bennet, for his part, did not directly condemn Russia, but simply expressed support for the Ukrainian people and called for negotiations.
Before the trip to Moscow, the head of the Israeli government spoke twice by phone with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine. Naftali Bennet spoke with Volodymyr Zelensky on the phone again immediately after the meeting with Vladimir Putin.
The Prime Minister then flew to Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.